Three days after the attack on a notorious military blogger in Saint Petersburg, it is still not clear who gave the order to kill Vladlen Tatarski (40). The mystery only seems to be getting bigger now that it appears that several security cameras on the route taken by suspect Darja Trepova (26) were out of action that day. Including in some crucial places.
LOOK. Well-known Russian military blogger dies in terrorist attack at café in Saint Petersburg
According to the widely read Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, investigators from the Saint Petersburg homicide department discovered it when they requested the images.
VChK-OGPU sources say there is only one complete video clip from all the cameras on Vasilevskiy Island, the central district where the attack happened. The camera was on Fifth Street in front of house number 10 and recorded Daria at 5:12 p.m. as she emerged from a gate of the Russian Academy of Arts with a box in her arms. In addition to classrooms, there are also student flats on that campus, where the young woman stayed. The next time she appears is in front of the café where the attack took place.
Box
These images were released shortly after the attack. You can see Daria walking by at first, still holding the box in her arms. Then she disappears into a blind spot for two minutes. According to the police who mapped her route, there were not even private cameras there. VChK-OGPU notes that it gave Daria the chance to meet someone without anyone seeing. It is not said who that should be.
LOOK. Images show how Daria first steps past the cafe, disappears for a moment and then goes inside
The Telegram channel also reports that there is now more clarity about what Daria did just after the attack. Footage taken by attendees shows everyone coming out. Some are dusty and bloodied. Daria also turns up, but she seems relatively unharmed.
LOOK. Shocking images show “moment of attack on Tatarsky” and what happened next
She would then have stumbled several tens of meters further. She may have been dazed from the explosion. Unreleased images show how she then stops, calls on her mobile phone and starts walking hard after the conversation. At 6:17 p.m. you can see her walking through the gate of the Russian Academy of Arts again on camera images, after which she disappears. What went on inside is a big question mark.
“No coincidence”
According to a technician called in by the police, the cameras on campus were off between 8 a.m. and 6:40 p.m. Sunday. However, they normally keep a close eye on the entire area, including the exits to the street. As a result, it is also not clear how Daria left again. A lot of people and cars went in and out and that made it possible for her to slip away unnoticed. The next day she was arrested by the Russian authorities and charged with the murder attempt. “It is unlikely that the cameras were turned off by chance,” said VChK-OGPU.
It makes the line that Moscow puts forward – that the attack was commissioned by Ukraine – less likely. Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin does not believe in this either. “I think more of a group of radicals that has hardly any ties with Ukraine,” he said after the attack.
Western sources point to Russia and may call the attack a warning to Prigozhin. He was the owner of the cafe and Vladlen Tatarski did propaganda work for him. It has long been known that there is a power struggle between Prigozhin and the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Remarkable: Darja Dugina (29), who died in a bomb attack in August, was also a propagandist of Prigozhin. And security cameras were also out of action at the place where she died.
After the spectacular attack: who are the Russian military bloggers and are they a threat to Putin? (+)
Ukraine blamed for assassination attempt on Russian blogger. But none other than Wagner boss Prigozhin contradicts that (+)
LOOK ALSO. Everything about the war between Russia and Ukraine in pictures
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss a thing of the stars.